Forty teams representing 24 law schools visited Elon University School of Law for an April event that challenged students to deftly argue questions of First Amendment rights versus the role of government in protecting public health and safety.
What are the legal ramifications when a tattoo artist is denied space at state fairgrounds because the government-appointed board that runs the venue views tattooing as a health-related matter, when the artist views what she does as expression and, thus, covered by the First Amendment?
Such was the premise of the Sixth Annual Billings, Exum & Frye National Moot Court Competition hosted by the Elon University School of Law from April 1-2, 2016, when 40 teams representing 24 law schools visited Greensboro to argue this constitutional law issue in front of several prominent judges from North Carolina and the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.
A team comprised of Gracie Holden, Cassandra Klusmeyer and Emily Prestopnik from Florida Coastal School of Law won the tournament following oral arguments before Judge Allyson K. Duncan of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit; Judge William Osteen Jr., chief judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina; and the competition’s namesakes, each of whom previously served as chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court: Rhoda Bryan Billings, James G. Exum, Jr. and Henry E. Frye.
Billings, Exum and Frye also are founding members of Elon Law’s national advisory board. Each has served in a variety of leadership positions within the legal profession and in public life.
The Florida Coastal School of Law team defeated a team from Texas Tech University School of Law, though Ashleigh Hammer, a student from Texas Tech, won the award for the best oral advocate in the final round of the competition.
Moot court teams participated in three preliminary rounds of oral argument, after which the field was narrowed for octofinal, quarterfinal, semifinal and championship rounds. Teams submitted briefs in advance of the competition, representing either the petitioner or the respondent in a hypothetical case before the Supreme Court of the United States that focused on a constitutional law issue.
Competitors were judged on the quality of their appellate brief and oral arguments.
Dozens of volunteers served as judges at all levels of competition, including both active and retired judges on the North Carolina Court of Appeals, federal district courts and state superior courts. Thirty-two Elon Law alumni also served as judges in the preliminary, octofinal and quarterfinal rounds of oral argument.